Detroit Red Wings right wing Johan Franzen (93) and St. Louis Blues defenseman Roman Polak (46) watch the puck in front of the Blues net during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Detroit, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

2011-12-27 22:26:00

DETROIT - When the Detroit Red Wings raised their game in the third period, the St. Louis Blues couldn't match it.

Pavel Datsyuk and Niklas Kronwall scored 56 seconds apart in the final frame to give the Red Wings a 3-2 comeback win over the Blues on Tuesday night.

"We showed good determination in the third period," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "We were down 2-0 to a good team that doesn't give up a lot of shots, a lot of opportunity. We worked our way back, had good goaltending."

Datsyuk added an assist, and Nicklas Lidstrom also scored for the Red Wings, who won their 11th consecutive home game. Ian White had two assists, and Jimmy Howard stopped 29 shots.

"We threw everything we had at them," Kronwall said. "We were fortunate to get a couple of those through at the end."

Detroit lost the first two meetings with the Blues this season in St. Louis.

Matt D'Agostini and Alexander Steen scored for the Blues, and Jason Arnott and Kevin Shattenkirk both had two assists. Brian Elliott made 29 saves.

"They dialed it up in the third and forced us into making mistakes," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said.

Datsyuk tied the game at two with 8:41 left, deflecting White's shot out of the air off the rush for his 12th goal.

"A shot pass," Datsyuk said. "I just tried to put my stick on it."

Kronwall netted his eighth with a wrist shot from the left point with 7:45 remaining.

"Fil (Valtteri Filppula) made a great play, making their forwards come down on him so I could get some more room," Kronwall said. "Huds (Jiri Hudler) is doing a great job in front of the net and their goalie didn't see anything whatsoever, that's why the puck went in."

Kronwall was impressed by the way the Red Wings took the game to the Blues and gave the home fans something to celebrate.

"Tonight really was a sweet one. Just the fact that we came back, we knew we had a lot of momentum with the crowd in here," he said. "We did a good job in the third coming after them wave after wave. At the same time they sat back a little bit. We really took advantage of that."

On the flip side, Elliott lamented his club's lost lead.

"You're up on the road, you've just got to finish, playing a clear concise game," he said. "We didn't do what we needed to do in the third period and that cost us."

Lidstrom put Detroit on the board during a power play with 1:03 left in the second period. He scored his eighth of the season when he beat Elliott by one-timing a carom off the boards from the left point.

D'Agostini gave the Blues a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 6:51 in. He tipped Shattenkirk's shot from the point out of the air and past Howard for his eighth goal.

Steen made it 2-0 with another power-play effort with 6:52 left in the middle period. Howard seemingly had Arnott's shot in his pads, but the puck trickled between his legs. Steen put it into the empty net as he skated behind Howard for his 13th goal.

NOTES: Detroit forward Tomas Holmstrom will miss a week to 10 days because of a strained groin sustained Monday night during a 4-1 win at Nashville. The Red Wings recalled forward Joakin Andersson from Grand Rapids of the AHL, and he made his NHL debut. ... Forward B.J. Crombeen made his season debut. He had been out with a broken shoulder since the final pre-season game. ... Blues forward T.J. Oshie missed his second game because of a left wrist injury. ... St. Louis RW Jamie Langenbrunner missed his second game with the flu. ... Former Detroit player and coach Johnny Wilson died of lung disease. He was 82. Wilson once held the NHL iron man record of 580 consecutive games from 1951-52 to 1959-60 and won four Stanley Cup titles with the Red Wings. ... St. Louis C Patrik Berglund got hit on the side of the head with a puck off the stick of teammate Chris Porter while sitting on the bench with 5:48 left. Berglund seemed momentarily stunned but remained on the bench.